Taking a Stand
by swimgirl07
Summary: What happens when Harry finally gets fed up with Dumbledore's manipulations and the Ministry's idiocy and leaves the magical world, and Britain behind? Harry Potter/Rent Crossover, AU after 5th year. T for swearing, will be M later. First fic, please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

A hatred like he'd never known was coursing through Harry's veins as he stood in the Headmasters ruined office. His breath came in deep, heavy pants, his face ghostly pale but for the circles of fire in his cheeks, his eyes so dark they took on a forest green quality instead of his normal emerald orbs. His glare would have the bravest of men cowering, although the Headmaster himself simply sat, looking at him with a small frown upon his face, his eyes forever twinkling, at this time with what appeared to be pity. This, of course, just infuriated the teenager even more, and when asked to sit, when asked to calm down, Harry began to laugh. A truly frightening laugh, those who truly knew him (had there been anyone that did) would have been backing away in fear.

"You want me to calm down?" Harry began in a deadly hiss, "How dare you. How dare you tell me of your manipulations, five years too late I might add, and then ask me to CALM DOWN!" Harry screamed, his face purpling slightly as his voice increased in volume. He paused, his expression that of someone desperately trying to stop themselves from doing something incredibly stupid, taking a deep breath, he focused his murderous gaze upon the man he'd thought of as a surrogate Grandfather. "I say this for the last time, old man. Let me out." He spoke in a deceivingly calm voice, though his eyes gave away his true feelings. Dumbledore heaved a pained sigh, closing his eyes against sight of the enraged teen.

"Very well. However, I must ask you not to mention what I've told you tonight to anyone, bar Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, of course. And I will be calling on you again by the weeks end, please be available." Opening his eyes, Dumbledore waited for some response to this demand, at Harry's brisk nod, he waved his wand in a slight motion, and the door was opened, Harry walking quickly to the escape. "Harry..?" Harry paused, his back to the Headmaster. "I truly am sorry for your loss, dear boy, Sirius was an amazing man and the Order will surely miss him."

If the Headmaster could have seen Harry's face at that statement, he would have thought twice about letting him out of his office. As it was, he sighed as Harry left.

"It will all be for the greater good, my boy." He spoke to the empty room quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: First off, thanks to those that have reviewed on my first chapter, it's truly amazing and I feel like I can actually do this. :D**_

_**Secondly, I just wanted to let everyone know that RENT won't be coming into the plot for several chapters, as I want to set up the basis for them to meet in a reasonable way, instead of just throwing them into it.**_

_**Lastly, the timelines don't exactly match with the way that I want the story to go, please just ignore the inconsistencies, I'll try to find a way around them, but it might not happen.**_

_**And on to the story!**_

_I'm done._ Harry thought as he stormed out past the gargoyles, which quickly slid back into place, down the hall, past the stairways that would take him to Gryffindor Tower, past the Great Hall, and out the main doors. Not caring what time it was or who could see him, Harry started running, there was no destination in mind, simply an urgent need to move, to feel as if he was doing something, anything. He ran for what felt like days, although it was most likely only a few hours. And while he ran, he thought. His anger had not dissipated like the Headmaster thought it would, far from it. He'd simply pushed it to the back of his mind, letting it tinge his thoughts, his plans. _I'll go talk to Ron and Hermione, I'll tell them everything. We'll figure out what to do._ With that comforting thought Harry slowed his stride and turned to go back into the castle.

"You're wrong." Harry gazed, slack-jawed at Hermione as she said these words. He'd just explained to them what he'd learned in the Headmaster's office. It was two days after the fiasco at the Ministry and they were sitting in the Hospital Wing, waiting for Ron to be discharged. Harry had solemnly told them of Dumbledore's manipulations, from keeping the Prophecy to himself to allowing Harry to get into danger year after year. Ron and Hermione both sat listening to him in complete awe, and silence reigned after he was finished speaking. At least until Hermione opened her mouth.

"Wh-what?" Harry stuttered when he finally gained some control of his voice.

"You're wrong, o-or you misunderstood. Something is wrong; Dumbledore would never hurt anyone intentionally." Hermione spoke, gaining confidence as she continued. "Except, of course, You-Know-Who. He'd never have done anything to you at school nor do anything to put you in any danger, everything that's happened have been horrible plots by You-Know-Who and simple bad luck. I don't know why you're taking all this so personally." Harry was horrified to see Ron nodding as she was speaking.

"You gotta admit you're not in the best place emotionally, mate. I think you're probably just like, uh, protecting-"

"Projecting"

"Right, thanks Hermione, you're just projecting your emotions onto Dumbledore right now." Ron stated, in a voice that completely contradicted his normal dumb as a rock persona.

Harry was stunned, here sat the two people he had thought he could always count on, always trust, that could someday, possibly know the real him, telling him he was wrong. That he was allowing his emotions to get the better of him. _Fine, I'm done with them too._ Harry thought, glaring, as he stood up.

"Harry, where are you going?" Hermione asked as he turned to the door.

"None of your fucking business Granger." Harry said coldly, not turning around, completely ignoring Hermione's gasp at his use of her surname.

"Hey! You can't talk to her like that!"Ron yelled from his position on the bed. Harry turned at these words, halfway out the door.

"I can speak however I want to Weasley! I only hold back for my **friends**!" Harry emphasized the word friends, glaring at them in a way neither had ever seen before. It was a completely Slytherin look, as though he could curse them to oblivion and not care at all.

"H-Harry? I'm s-sorry, but I think y-you're just over-reac—"

"If you finish that sentence Granger, so help me I will curse you!" Harry said, turning around once more. Pausing, he quietly said, "And don't you dare call me Harry again." With that, he left the Hospital Wing, not once looking back.

He left two very stunned teens behind him.

Once again, Harry was seething. This time however, it was not directed at the Headmaster, or at his ex-best friends. No, this time his piercing glare was directed at the front page of _The Dailey Prophet_.

_**The Boy-Who-Lived a Fraud!**_

_In a recent statement to the press Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge recounted his assurances that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is not back from the dead, he is quoted saying "It brings me great displeasure to announce to you that the rumors surrounding You-Know-Who are in fact true. He is back, I saw him with my own eyes." This reporter had hoped it to be an elaborate prank, but alas, the Minister is indeed serious and reminds everyone to be on guard in the coming months, as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is extremely dangerous, as are all of his loyal followers, commonly known as Death Eaters._

_When asked about the correlation between the return of the Dark Wizard and the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, who had been proclaiming for months that You-Know-Who is at full power once again. The Minister had this to say. "I have seen no evidence to support Mr. Potter's story of how You-Know-Who has regained his power, I personally believe that he learned of His return from Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and that they worked together on a story to turn Potter into some sort of "Savior"-_

The article continued, and with it, Harry's temper rose. Luckily he had an amazing control over it, as exhibited by a) his not killing Dumbledore, b) his not beating his ex-best friends to a bloody pulp, and now c) not tearing into Fudge's office and strangling him.

Taking a deep breath, Harry closed his eyes and began to brainstorm. He had one month. One month to make and proceed with his plans. He had already started, he knew he would need to transfer money from Gringotts into a Muggle bank account. The only problem was where? He knew he didn't want to stay in England, or Scotland, but where could he go?

Opening his eyes, Harry hurriedly ate the rest of his meal, and headed off to the library. He had some work to do.


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN: Oh my goodness! You guys are awesome, thanks for the reviews! Seriously, it's wonderful.**_

_**So, so, so, so sorry that it took me so long to update! The stupid little bug called writer's block totally bit me in the ass, and I couldn't get rid of it. This is also an apology for the length of the chapter, although they keep getting longer, so hopefully they'll reach adequate length soon! :D**_

_**I wanted to address some of the reviews that seemed to be concerned with the speed that Harry was willing to leave his friendship with Ron and Hermione behind, I agree that it was somewhat rushed, but I just felt that a cleaner break would be more believable than Harry allowing them to stay in his life any longer. I hope that clears that up.**_

_**FYI, the one month deadline is partly a personal deadline for Harry, and partly the end of the year deadline, he wants to be able to put his plans into action by the time the year ends, if my timeline is off, let me know, and I'll see if I can fix it to fit with the story :D**_

_**Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.**_

_**Imma leave it at that!**_

_**Forward March!**_

Chapter 3

Harry needed help. He'd been at this for hours, pouring over book after book, all as dull as the last, and each completely useless. He needed to know where he could go, where the strength of both Dumbledore and the Ministry were nonexistent, or at least weak. He knew that the Ministry had the majority of its power in England, but what other countries did it have any sway in? As for Dumbledore, that was even more difficult to know, surely Dumbledore put a lot of time and energy into gaining foreign allies, but where was he successful? Better yet, where had he not even attempted to gain help?

His first thought had been asking Hermione for help, but he quickly reminded himself that he'd never again ask _**Granger**_ for help, her or Weasley. The thought had left a powerfully bitter taste in his mouth, he really did miss them, but he couldn't afford friends like that. They'd allow Dumbledore to continue his reign, which Harry would stop if he could, and not be a part of if he couldn't.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he looked back to the books stacked to his left and those on his right, the one on the right being those he had not yet read, the pile much bigger than those he had. He was sure he could go to a teacher or a magically raised student for the answer to his questions, at least those about the Ministry, but he didn't want word getting out that he'd asked. He didn't want anyone to know anything of his plans, there was no one he could trust. Granger and Weasley had shown where their loyalty truly lied and Ginny wouldn't keep anything from Ron or her mother, Harry knew the entire Weasley family was in Dumbledore's pocket, with the possible exception of Fred and George. He didn't really trust anyone else, those three were the ones that were with him on every adventure, that he'd come the closest to trusting fully, they had been his surrogate family. They were the only ones –_they weren't the only ones in the Department of Mysteries with you, though._ A small voice in the back of Harry's head said, causing him to sit up so quickly he dropped the book from his lap to the floor. How could he have forgotten? He had two other friends that had never turned their backs on him, while they wouldn't be the first choice of nearly anyone else; Harry knew he could trust them both. Neville and Luna had nearly sacrificed their lives for him in the Department of Mysteries. They'd defended him and hadn't hesitated in offering to go to the Ministry that night.

Harry smiled to himself, now he just needed to find one of them.

"Luna?" Luna Lovegood turned at the sound of her name, she had just left the Great Hall after dinner. She wasn't really surprised to see who it was that had called after her. After all, she had seen it.

(Flashback)

She had been sitting in the library the day before, researching past sightings of the Crumple-Horned ___Snorkack when she had heard a slightly interesting conversation._

_"__I've been ____**trying**____, Hermione! He won't even look at me if he doesn't have to." a male voice whined, followed by a sharp intake of breath._

_"__Try harder, bloody hell it shouldn't be that difficult! Just talk about Quidditch or something equally mundane! Dumbledore told us that we need to be back in his good graces soon. I don't know why, honestly, he's not even that intelligent, I don't understand how ____**he's**____ supposed to defeat You-Know-Who." The bossy female, who Luna recognized as Hermione Granger sighed, "Come on, we have to get to lunch, we'll try and get him to speak to us then." Luna heard shuffling as they gathered there things and stood._

_"__You didn't have to hit me 'Mione." Ronald whined again as he followed the brunette out of the library._

_That was most illuminating, _thought Luna.

"_Yes dear, but I think I have something even better to show you."_ Luna looked up to see a small vortex above her head, she grinned at the images that poured from it. Harry looking nervous, talking to her, Harry getting off of a large metal contraption that resembled a dragon in flight, Harry… but not Harry, he had changed, he was laughing, looking lovingly at people Luna didn't recognize. The images continued and painted a wonderful picture for her, Luna was sure it was only one option though. That's how life worked, one decision could completely alter the entire view.

As suddenly as the vortex appeared, it was gone, leaving Luna staring at the ceiling, smiling to herself, just as two Seventh year girls walked by.

"She is so Loony." They giggled.

(End Flashback)

"Hello Harry." She said, smiling at him. "I believe you have some questions. Let's go to the library and we can talk."

Harry was flabbergasted, his jaw opened wide as he watched Luna head off in the direction of the library. _How had she known? _Shaking himself out of his daze, he attempted to follow her, but was stopped by the sudden presence of Granger and Weasley; they had been extremely persistent in trying to get him to speak to them. Surprisingly persistent in Weasley's case, the red-head had been unwavering in trying to talk to Harry in the dorms until Harry had asked him if he was hitting on him. The boy had gone as red as his hair, and hadn't bothered Harry alone since. It wasn't that Harry had anything against homosexuals, he didn't, but he knew that Weasley did, and had used it to his advantage.

Tuning back into the present time, Harry simply stared at his two ex-best friends, not even having the heart to glare. They stared back for a few seconds, Weasley with bated breath, Granger looking at Harry speculatively. After a few slightly uncomfortable moments, Harry raised an eyebrow, as if to ask, _"what?"_, yet still not saying a word. Granger rolled her eyes and huffed,

"Honestly Harry, what are you thinking? Why won't you speak to either of us? You're acting extremely childishly and I for one –"

"I believe I've asked you multiple times Granger, **not **to call me by my first name. Is that not correct?" Harry spoke, smoothly interrupting her, eyebrow still raised, now examining his nails. "As to why I'm no longer speaking to you outside of necessity, well, I felt that was fairly obvious. We are no longer friends, you can say goodbye to the 'Golden Trio', as I heard you refer to us on multiple occasions. I may be able to forgive you for your betrayal someday in the future, but- ah, listen closely Granger" Harry's voice turned cold as he halted her interruption, "**but**, even **if** I ever forgive you, I'll never forget, and we'll **never** be the same as we were before. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a friend I'm supposed to be meeting." And with that, Harry left them, Hermione sputtering incoherently, Ron shaking his head and fighting the urge to say, 'I told you so', as he knew that would not go over well with Hermione.


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN:**_

_**Thanks to those that reviewed. :D And I know I'm a horrible person for taking so long to update, life's been hectic.**_

_**Here we go!**_

_Recap:_

"_Yes dear, but I think I have something even better to show you." Luna looked up to see a small vortex above her head, she grinned at the images that poured from it. Harry looking nervous, talking to her, Harry getting off of a large metal contraption that resembled a dragon in flight, Harry… but not Harry, he had changed, he was laughing, looking lovingly at people Luna didn't recognize. The images continued and painted a wonderful picture for her, Luna was sure it was only one option though. That's how life worked, one decision could completely alter the entire view._

_Harry's voice turned cold as he halted her interruption, "__**but**__, even __**if**__ I ever forgive you, I'll never forget, and we'll __**never**__ be the same as we were before. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a friend I'm supposed to be meeting." And with that, Harry left them, Hermione sputtering incoherently._

Chapter 4

"Sorry for the delay Luna, I was held up by Granger and Weasley." Harry apologized, sliding into a seat in the library next to Luna.

"That's quite alright Harry. I know you're angry with them." Luna said, turning her gaze, which was somehow simultaneously vacant and piercing, on him.

"Y-yeah, I am. They…" Harry sighed, "They were my best friends and they betrayed me… I'd rather not talk about this right now Luna, if that's ok?"

"Of course! How foolish of me, I apologize, Harry, I was momentarily distracted by the state of your friendship and forgot the real reason we were meeting here." Luna smiled brightly at a spot just over Harry's head, he fought the urge to look over his shoulder, that was just Luna for you.

"Right." Said Harry, shaking his head, "Luna… before we start I have to ask you a few things. Is that acceptable?"

"Sure, Harry, that's fine." Luna said, sitting back in her chair.

"Um…ok," mumbled Harry, he didn't know why, but he'd been expecting more of a fight from the younger girl. "Um, first off, I wanted to make sure you were ok. You know, after the Ministry fiasco, a lot of things happened and I didn't really check on you or anyone really, aside from Granger and Weasley, before… anyway, I'm sorry I never came to see how you were holding up, there really isn't any excuse.." Harry babbled on, looking at his feet, he'd honestly been feeling guilty for not even speaking to any of the others that had been in the Ministry that night, even Ginny, he didn't have to be best friends with her, or let on to his plans in order to be a friend of some kind. He planned to rectify that as soon as he could, starting with Luna.

"Stop."

The word halted Harry's self deprecating rant, and he looked up at Luna in shock. Not at the interruption, but at the tone in her voice, she had almost sounded… angry.

"I-I'm so-" Harry began, but was once again cut off by Luna's words.

"I'm not angry with you Harry, I find it truly sweet that you feel so guilty, but the fact of the matter is I'm not your responsibility, and neither are any of the others. _You_ are you're responsibility, that's all." Luna said, shocking Harry even more. No one had ever done this before, told him to think of himself, that he was his first priority, that was one of the biggest reasons it had taken him this long to stand up for himself, he had always felt he owed it to others to put his needs and desires after everyone else's.

"I-… Thank you Luna." Harry said quickly, feeling slightly uncomfortable, he cleared his throat and moved onto the other things he needed to discuss.

"Luna, I need your word that you won't breath a word of what I'm about to tell you to anyone. It's vitally important and I can't express to you how dangerous the information would be in the wrong hands, to myself, mostly, but also to others involved. Do I have your word?" he asked, not breaking eye contact with the eccentric blond sitting next to him. To his great surprise, Luna pulled out her wand, smiling and answered,

"I, Luna Serena Lovegood, swear upon my magic to hold in confidence the words and intentions of which Harry James Potter speaks, until that time he wishes for it to be mote it be." She then put her wand away, and folded her hands primly in her lap, her otherworldly smile still in place.

Harry was stunned. Speechless. Completely baffled. She had just sworn on her magic, which was not as serious as the Unbreakable Vow, she'd still be able to tell anyone she chose, but if she did she'd lose her magic, she'd be no more magical than a Muggle or Squib.

Luna reached over and closed his jaw for him, then sat back folding her hands primly in her lap. "Were you going to speak, Harry? Or am I under oath for your silence?"

Shaking his head, Harry slowly regained control of first his thought process, then his voice. "Y-you really didn't have to swear an oath Luna." Harry said, though his heart swelled with the knowledge that she would do something that drastic without anything in it for herself.

"Yes I did, now no more arguing." Luna stated simply, looking at him expectantly. It took a moment for Harry to gather his wits enough to remember his original purpose.

"Right. Luna, I need your help with something, I-I can't tell you all of my reasons for this, but I hope that you'll help me anyway." He took a deep breath and continued, "I have to get out of London, hell preferably off the continent. I need to be able to make my own decisions, but I can't do that if I'm forever under Dumbledore's thumb. Do you think you can help me find the best place to go? Preferably in a place that has no allegiance to either the Ministry or Dumbledore?"

Luna leaned back further in her chair, raising her eyes to look just past Harry again, if he hadn't known any better, he wold have thought it was exactly the same spot. Shrugging out of his thoughts, Harry looked hopefully at Luna.

"You know, I think we should do some research on this, I have some guesses, but I'm not sure which of them would work. America is, of course, neutral in all things, the magical community has done much better at staying out of conflicts than the non-magical. So, I'm thinking America would be best, but it wouldn't hurt at all to look into other areas as well. Hmm, ok, here's what we're going to do..." And she went on to describe a brilliant plan of using newspapers to decide where he should go, even suggesting subscribing to Muggle magazines like the New York Times, so he could look for an apartment or house to rent out during the summer. Harry saw only one problem with this plan.

"Um, Luna, won't it look suspicious to Dumbledore if I start getting all these newspapers from all over the world?" Luna fixed him with a look that was surprisingly similar to Granger's "Are you stupid" expression.

"Well, he would be, if _you_ received them," she stated after a moment. "But no one will pat a knee if _I_ do."

"Oh!" Harry grinned. Luna smiled brightly at him.

"And even if they do think it's especially strange, and ask what I'm doing, I'll just say I'm researching mine and Daddy's next vacation looking for the Crumple-Horned Snorcack." It was official, Luna was a snake in raven's clothing.

"Now, you realize that finding a location, and place to live is only one step to the puzzle, yes?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, I figured out a pretty awesome way of fooling the blood wards, but I'll have to tell you about that later." Harry said, his smile turning to an evil smirk.

"Ok, now what about your magical signature?" Luna asked, not perturbed in the slightest about the fact that Harry was not telling her something, like Ron and Hermione would be. The question gave Harry pause.

"I have a magical signature?" He asked, confused.

"Everyone does, Harry. It's how the Ministry know when you've done underage magic outside of Hogwarts. Even adults have them, though they become harder to track once you become of age. The problem they pose is that if you use any magic to get to wherever you decide to go, they'll be able to track your magic. My suggestion is this: get more help."

"Luna, I honestly don't know that there is anyone else that I trust right now, I'm going to talk to Neville later, I have a mission of sorts that I hope he'll be willing to do. But I don't know of anyone else that doesn't have major alliances with either Dumbledore or the Ministry."

"What about the Twins?" Luna asked with a small smile, she liked how Harry's face lit up a bit at the reminder of Fred and George.

"Well, I _think_ that they'd help me, hell, I could just tell them I need to have a fun filled summer instead of the damn Dursley's and they'd help however they could, I wouldn't even need to tell them about everything with Dumbledore." Harry blathered on, his grin growing as he worked out the plan.


	5. AN: Farewell For Now

Dear Readers,

I am sorry to inform you that this profile will be abandoned in the next month.

I simply feel that I have outgrown it, I started this profile in high school, worlds away from where I am in my life currently. I feel I have changed in my preferences, in my writting style, etc, etc. I feel that it is time to say goodbye to this and hello to who I am now.

To all of you who have favorited/reviewed my works, THANK YOU. I seriously adore each and everyone of you, and want to let you knoe that your words of encouragement have actually helped me in this growing up process. So, again, thank you.

For those of you wondering what this means for my two unfinished stories, do not fear!, I WILL be continuing both stories, although they will be undergoing a rewritting process that will possibly change certain things. Once I've rewritten them, and got much more written than the few chapters I have now, I will be posting them under the same or similar titles under the username SlytherinBB07. I'd love it if I saw you all there.

Anyway, my lovely readers, I apologize if this is somehow upsetting, but I do feel that it is for the best, for me as a writer and as a person, and I hope that you understand.

For the last time,

SwimGirl07


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